Path of the Shinigami
by Ice Miko
Summary: Welcome to Soul Society many centuries before the world of Bleach. Follow the stories of young Shinigamitobe as the delve into a new world some for adventure, some for a better life. Read on, young soul, and hear tales of the Gods of Death
1. Chapter 1 A New Life

Welcome to my first Bleach Fanfic. Basically I am taking the world of the Soul Society and watching the lives of charachters I have created play through the world. I Most Likely won't be using any of the charachters mentioned in the manga/anime. Some of them might be predessors of those characters though.

The story takes place a good while before the stories of Rukia and Ichigo: within the fedual era of Japan.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or this concept of Soul Society; I do however own the majority of the charachters I will be using in this fanfic;

* * *

**Path of the Shinigami**

* * *

**Chapter 1** A New Life

* * *

It was a cold and chilly night in what might have been November. The rain fell like ice, hard on Soul Society.  
The nobles, safe inside the warm cozy houses of Seireitei (Court of Pure Souls), paid no heed to the dark clouds that gathered over the city.

But for the occupants of Rukongai, the story was much different. The people had little or no protection from the rain, which soaked them to their skin.  
Such was the case in East Rukongai, District 42.

A baby's cries screamed under the pounding rain, drowned out by the waters that were pounding into the ground. The baby was cold, hardly wrapped in one small piece of cloth, shivering as the elements came down.

Then, a young girl, almost a lady, heard the cries. Her wooden geta clacked against the stones of the road as she followed the cries searching for the sourse. She tilted her wide brimmed straw hat so she could see better. She stooped down, being careful not to lose balance as she was carrying a heavy jug of water on her back, to inspect the small bundle.

The baby's blue eyes were full with tears, very deep. Her hair was a light brown, almost grey, and it floated in little whisps around her head. She clutched in her hand a small pendant. The thirteen-year old picked up the small child sheltering it in her arms, safe from the rain. It was then that she noticed the small fluffy white wings that fluttered on the baby's back.

* * *

"Ni-sama, look what I can do!" came a little cry from behind. The raven-haired lady turned to the young eight-year old. Her hair was bouncing up and down with her as she exictedly showed her adopted older sister the small ball of energy she had conjured. The older girl smiled, and patted the younger on the head. 

"Good job Mercy! Keep practicing and soon you can join the Shinagami Acadamy." She prounouced the name /meer/cee/. Mercy's head bobbed up and down.

"I know! You said on my ninth Finding Day you'd take me there." They had called it her Finding Day as her exact day of birth could never be known. Instead they celebrated each year the day she had been found on the streets. Mercy continued conjuring balls of spirit energy, trying to make each one bigger than before.

"I'll be ten in a few weeks! I'm gonna try real hard! Lydie-san, do you think I'll make it?" She looked up hopefully into the older girl's face. Lydia smiled back, and replied,

"Of course, dear. See how much you can do already? You'll definitly make it in." She smiled again, but there was a hint of sadness. Over the years she had raised Mercy, she had grown quite fond of the girl, and it would be hard to say goodbye to her when the time came. Mercy picked up on this fragment of sorrow.

"Ni-sama, did I do something wrong?" Lydia chuckled. mercy was always looking for ways to make others happy.

"No, dearie, nothing's wrong. Here, drink some water." she said, handing the younger girl a small terra-cotta cup filed almost to the top. As the girl drank, Lydia continued,

"I've been saving up to get you someting special this year. When the day comes, I'll buy you some sweets and we'll have a little party early in the morning, and afterwards I'll take you to the South Gate where the Shinigami will be waiting for all the newcomers" This erupted cheers from the younger girl, causing her to splash some of the water onto herself.

"oopsies..." Lydia chuckled.

"It's alright dear." she said, as she dried the girl with a small cloth.

"I can't wait for my ninth Finding Day!" she said happily, fingering her small gold pendant, the only valuble thing she had. Lydia smiled_. I will miss her_...

* * *

Tatsuya was estatic. Both he and his brother, Aros, had made it in. He had a big smile on his face as he carried his uniform and the other objects given to incoming Shinigami-to-be's to his assigned room. As he walked past the girl's dorm windows, he thought he heard crying. His hazel-brown eyes searched for the sourse, peeking out from his unruly dark brown hair. As soon as he located the orign, one of the girl's rooms, he ran to the respective window, barely managing to pull his head over so he could look in. There was a girl around nine, a year his younger, crying in her room, her face in her pillow, now throughly soaked with tears. 

"Hey...hey there...are you okay?" He said inquiringly at the girl. She stopped her crying for a moment, peering up to see who had spoken. He peered back at the blue eyes that looked at him.

"Um..Hi!" he said, managing a uneasy wave.

"I miss my ni-sama..." She said sniffling. It looked as if she might burst into tears again soon. "I was so happy that I made it in...but...but...I didn't know that she couldn't come too. And now I'll prolly never see her again." tears fell across her face.

"Don't say that. I'm sure you'll see her again." It didn's seem to be helping any. "...Um..." He searched his mind for a way to cheer her up, then remembered the bag of candy his brother had gotton him. He dopped his stuff in a pile on the ground, searching untill he found the confetti. Soon his face was back at the window, he held up the bag of candy.

"I have some candy...do you want some." The girl slowly nodded, then came up to the window and between them they devoured the candy. Once they were done, Tatsuya with sticky fingers still on the window sill, said,

"My name's Miyazaki Tatsuya, but you can call me 'Suya! Me an' my brother Aros just joined. We're lower class nobles, living on the outskirts of Seireitei." Mercy attempted a smile, wiping away tears from her face, which was now very sticky, covered in candy and tear-stained.

"I'm Mercy. From Rukongai. We wandered around alot, but mostly stayed around East Rukongai 38." She rubbed her eyes. Suya smiled.

"We'll prolly be in the same class 'cause we're around the same age. I'll see you tomarow then, Mercy-chan." Mercy smiled back.

"Okay, Suya-kun."

* * *

The girl's cold eyes stared back at the man in the black Yukata. He didn't appreciate the look in the least: It was giving him the chills. _This girl could probably scare Hollows into death without even drawing a Zanpakuto. _

"So, Um...name?" He said, moving his gaze to the papers in front of him, trying to escape the raven-haired girl's steely grey eyes.

"Akito Lyrae. Spelled L-y-r-a-e." She said it matter-of-factly, in a voice devoid of emotion. She prounced her name /Leer/uh/, though it's spelling was unusual. He quickly jotted it down.

"Age?"

"Sixteen years, three moons, seven days." What an exact figure...it made this child even more scary. He wrote down 'sixteen', ignoring the specifics.

"Residency?"

"North Rukongai. District 2." not noble class, but definetly not the slums.

"Thank you. Please follow this lady," He said, gesturing to one of the secretaries, a young lady dressed in a simple kimono, "She will get you your uniform and give you your class assinment." The girl gave a curt nod, and exited after the woman. The man shivered. He was glad to have gotton rid of her.

* * *

* * *

Dang that was a long chapter o.O

first four characthers introduced, and I plan to introduce a few more before the story's end: Tomarow, captains! -evil laughter- you don't want to miss this.

so you guys PLEASE REVEIW? ;-;

noone ever reveiws me ever v.v

it makes me so sad inside...


	2. Chapter 2

ZOMG yay! An actual Reveiw!!! -happy dance-

Viashino wizard: thanks for the reveiw and the detailed report x3 It helped lots.

Muhahaha! now on to the fun parts: captains and vice-captains -evil grin-

oh btw, pelase feel free to correct any of my Japanese mistakes, I know I will make them accidently some where.

...oh, and can someone tell me what vice-captain was in Japanese, I think captain is taijou (sp?) and vice captain had some prefix I can't remember...

Oh, and please excuse my spelling. this computer doesn't have microsoft word for some reason -glares at computer- and I cannot spell at all without spell check.  
Sorry guys -sweatdrop-

* * *

**Chapter 2 **

Niigata Axel, captain of the lucky number 13 squad, was lounging on a sturdy tree branch, cooling down with a bottle of sake. He took off his dark shades, wiping them with the corner of his white haori.

"You shouldn't do that, you know, it'll make your haori all dirty and then you'll have to wash it again." came a small female voice from below the leafy canopies of the tree in which he was perched. Axel grinned. It was his Vice-captain, Kirara. He waved a lazy greeting with the hand not holding the glasses. She usually only came by if there was something important going on. He snapped his glasses shut, sticking them securly into the edge of his yukata.  
His green eyes glimmered with laughter. laughter that seemed to never leave his emerald cat-like eyes, as he pranced down from the tree, landing on the ground with the agility of a panther. His decent placed him directly in front of the short strawberry-blonde in an attempt to scare her. Which worked, of course.

"Eeeeep! Don't do that!" She said angrily, her cheeks all red and puffy with embaresment. Axel chuckled, running his hand through his short spikey black hair. Kirara crosed ehr arms in front of her chest, not at all happy.

"You know, this is the reason everyone calls you Rascal, Niigata-san." She said, still upset. He patted the short girl on the head lightly.

"Calm down, Ichi-kun." He said, using her nickname, a product of her dark strawberry blond hair and love for strawberries. "So what did you come here to tell me?" Kirara uncrossed her arms and reached into the inner pockets of her kimono, searching for something.

"Here it is!" she said gleefully, pulling out a parchement and holding it high over head, which due to her lack of height put the small roll of paper level with Axel's eyes. Axel took the scroll, untieing the red string. As he unrolled it, Kirara explained,

"It's a list of all the new Shinigami students! They're arranged by classes. They're all currently standing in the large courtyard getting a speech from Dia, so I thought you might want to go see them." He scaned down the list quickly. Three hundred incomings in all. He rolled the paper up, handing it back to the girl.

"I think I'll do just that." He said with a smile. He turned to go, then stopped, remembering something. He turned around again, an evilish look on his face.

"Oh, it's Fluffy-chan's bathtime..." Kirara's eyes widened horror.

"Can't you get one of the other memebrs to do it? Pleaaaase? I gave her a bath _last_ time." Axel chuckled, letting the girl wallow in sorrow for a few more moments before remarking,

"Alright. Get Damien, the new guy, to do it. He's the only one who hasn't before. Stand by and watch him though. He'll probably need some instruction." His grin widened "He doesn't like cats." Kirara gasped. Axel nodded farewell to the shocked Strawberry-Girl, replacing his sunglasses and heading over to where the newbies would be lined up, Kirara slowly making her way back to the squad dorms, shaking her head in disbelief. Niigata-san accepted someone who didn't like cats? That was new. But he'd learn soon. Fluffy-chan would see to that.  
Ichi-kun sighed. Though he'd probably get a few scratches first.

* * *

Her hair flew through the wind with each movement she made, three whip-like braids slashing around behind her. Her purple slitted eyes glanced to and fro, from one child to the next. The white haori she wore, though sleeveless and much shorter than usual, revealed her rank to be captain of the fourth squad, the healers; though she looked jsut as formidable as any, like a Bengal tiger about to spring.

She could see the sweat on the brows of the shinigami to be, each of them exicted to be there, as well as timid in the presense of a captain. She smiled, her thin lips parting slightly, reveal ingsparkling white teeth, teeth that seemed slightly more pointed than normal. Her purple forehead jewel glistened in the light.  
Suddenly, she stopped her prancing, facing the newcomers directly.

"I am Dia, Captain of the Fourth squad of the Gaito." her voice was soft but exotic, like a cat's purrs, but strong, and easily heard, though it did not seem loud, nor quiet. She glanced about the crowd as she spoke, eyes targeting one after the other with her peircing purple gaze. "Welcome. Some of you came here to fufill your dreams. Some, to fuffil roles in society set down by the past. Others, to escape a miserable life and instead to trade it for one of honor." Her face was serious, her eyes demanding and certain.

"The road you have chosen is not an easy one. It wil be filled with hardship, sorrow, and for some, death." her voice seemed to magnify, each word striking hard into the minds of the students. But she smiled now,

"But it is a road that leads to great things. With courage you will prevail, rise to the ranks and maybe someday join a squad, become a vice captain, or maybe even join the members of the thirteen captains." She smiled once mroe, scanning the entire group.

"Your class assignments have been given. You will work with the same group of individuals until you join the 13 squads. Classes begin tomarow in the assigned areas. You are dissmissed." She arubtly exited the courtyard, her presence etched into the souls of the group.

From a rooftop nearby, Axel smiled. Dia was quite the speech giver. The breeze eargerly entangled intself in his slitted haori, the many parts fluttering through the wind like playful ribbons. He drew out his Zampaktu, watching the light gleam off the blade in a silver stream.  
_Enjoy the wind, Bloodlust._

* * *

It was only when she was alone in her office did Dia sigh, the gasp of air exiting her mouth softly. These newcomers were practically identical to the last bunch. She would not find her vice-captain here.

"Dia-sama, there's a message for you." came the matter-of-fact voice of Shiba Hikaru 3rd rank in her squad. Upon her hand there was perched a hell butterfly. Dia nodded. The butterfly flew across the room, landing softly on Dia's outstretched fingers. She held the butterfly up to her ears, listening intently. After a moment had passed and the message had concluded, she opened one of her many windows, releasing the butterfly out into the world. She returned to Hikaru.

"Many thanks." The girl gave a polite bow, then left the room. Once she was gone, Dia sighed again. She massaged the base of her temples. _Maybe I should just pick someone from my current squad instead of waiting for someone to come along._

* * *

"Come here you ...cat!" He yelled in exaustion, gritting his teeth together. He knew cats hated water, but this was ridiculous!

"I'm sorry." Said Kirara, panting, "she's usually not this hard to catch. I think she senses your dislike of cats. Ooh." She winced as Damien ran into a supporting pillar in his mad dash to grab the cat. He rubbed the newly formed bump on his head, his dirty blonde hair brushed with his fingers. His grey blue eyes glared accusingly at the cat, who was perched upon a soft cushion, it's demeanor and expression mocking the new squad member. He groaned. How long had they been chasing this cat?

Then, an idea occured to him. He dug into his pockets, pulling out a fish shaped candy he had bought recently.He waved it in front of the kitty.

"If you come along peacefully and take your bath, I'll give you this." The cat stared at the fish-shaped sweet, looking as if he were pondering Damien's offer. Damein slowly walked over to the vat of water which had been prepared for the cat. The cat's eyes followed the candy as he moved. She looked undesive for a moment more, than leaped forward, springing and snatching the fish candy from Damien's clutches.

"Hey!" Damein said in astonishment as the cat went and sat on a tall shelf devouring the candy.

"Alright, you ate the candy, now come take a bath." The cat licked its lips, then softly pranced down into the large tank of water. Damien sighed with relief, hurrying to get the brush and the soap, muttering under his breath,

"I thought cat's gave themselves baths, licking themselves clean or something..."

* * *

Dang that is also a long chapter o.O

I was actually going to put in some more captain intros and some dorm stuff, but I don't want to drown everyone in a wall of text o.O

I'll plop in somemore tommarow x3

Note: Dia's name WILL change later in. She is a charachter I have as a teacher in one of my original stories, and I just couldn't remember her name, and my documents are all at home ;-;

Oh, and if anyone can give me Japanese versions of sword names (for example, Niigata's _Bloodlust) _or would be willing to do so in the future, please let me know!


	3. Chapter 3

GASP!  
Not one, but TWO reveiws!!

-faints-

Viashino Wizard gave another very awesome and very VERY very helpful reveiw! 3 Much love! 333  
He's written some preety awesome Bleach stuff, so give his stories a lookie x3

And thanks also for your reveiw, WolfChick11, I hope some reveiws fly your way too x3

* * *

**Chapter 3** Training

* * *

"Takashi Taicho..." Seifer gazed upwards to locate the voice refering to him. He found a short dark-haired boy, looking very nervous, the vice-captain insignia tied rather ackwardly on his sleeve. 

"Seifer-san is fine." He said, interupting. He disliked titles, especially when people reffering to him were older than him or around his age.

"Yes...sir...um... Seifer...san, There's a message for you." He bowed deeply, his back in an almost 90-degree angle, both hands outstretched holding a small parchment tied with a bright red string. Seifer slowly got to his feet, carefully placing his lunch, a delicious peanut butter and banana sandwhich, on a small table-looking contraption.

"A peanut-butter-and-banana sandwhich. YumYum." He said, casually accepting the roll of paper from the boy. "Ever had one?" The boy shook his head uneasily.

"N-No, sir."

"No? Your mom never made you one?" the boy nervously shook his head no. Seifer sighed.

"The nobles miss out on all the good food." He grinned at the boy. "You don't have to keep bowing."

"Y-Yes, sir." He heistantly stood up. Seifer mentally sighed. Apparantly this was the boy's first time as vice-captain, recently upgraded in rank high enough to earn the honor for a week. Takashi Seifer, Taicho of the Twelvth Squad of the Gaito, worked his vice-captain hard, giving them may tasks. With all the experiments he conducted, as well as general needs such as the production of many of the medicines Dia used, there was good reason. All these tasks would wear anyone to a state of comple exaustion and breakdown, so Seifer rotated out vice-captains, shifting the top 20 ranks or so in and out of the position weekly. Most of his shinigami squad were glad for the system, too. With the honor of being vice-captain for the week, came many responsibilities and tasks, much more than any one of them could handle for too long. Usually by mid-week, they were waiting for Saturday, and the end of their turn, eagerly. It had been this way for a while, since his last permanent vice-captain had died. She was a rare spirit, managing to handle all the daily stress without complaint or strain. But she was gone.  
He scanned the paper. Normal orders from Dia, standard medicines that were running a little low. He rerolled the parchment, Placing it in one of the many pockets in the long white haori he wore.

"What's your name?"

"Uhm...Tat-Tatsuno Kai, sir." Seifer smiled good-naturedly at the boy.

"Many thanks. You may have the rest of the hour to yourself. I'll expect you in the east lab at the 6th bell. Dissmissed." Kai clasped his hands together, bowing, as he exited.

The boy now gone, Seifer returned to his self-cooling bottle of sake and his sandwhich._ Mmm, peanut butter..._

* * *

"Today you will be learning some basic Kido." dictated the tall girl with bright orange hair, the senior teaching today's class. "The incantation is being handed out to you now." she gestured at the two senior boys who were busy handing out leaflets.  
"The move we will be using is a simple form of hado, the type of Kido used for attacks. You will be aiming at those targets over there." She said, motioning to the painted targets that were held upright by wooden sticks.  
"You are encouraged to try and hit the center red circle of each target, but do not be discouraged if you fall short, or miss the target entirly. It takes years of practice before good aim can be acheived with Kido. Now say it with me." 

"Ye Lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation," The voices, some male, some female, some children, and some nearly adults chorused together.

"Flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" The orange-girl's voice barked out louder than the rest

"Inferno and pandemonium, The sea barrier surges,

March on to the south!

Shot of Red Fire, _shakkahō!"_ She extended her arm fully, her left hand pointed desivly at the target in front of her. The other students followed. Red balls of energy shot out towards the targets. The tall girl's decaptitated the target, leaving a large hole through the center.

However, the new students did not prove to be such an amazement, with only a small percentage even hitting the target.

"Aww man! It didn't even go past two meters!" Mercy whined in contempt at her Shakkaho, a small tennis-ball shaped sphere of energy that had traveled less than ten feet.

"Yay! Mine hit!" yelled Suya with glee, pointing at the small indention on the edge of one of the targets. Mercy glared at the boy, who stoped his cheering,

"Oh...sorry..." Suya said. "Hey cheer up, you'll get better at it with time!" Mercy stuck her tounge out at him.

"Nyaaah!"

"Nyaaah!" Suya said. He stuck his tounge out back at her, making a face.

"You two quit that!" Came a gruff male voice. They snapped out of their face-making contest, facing directly in front as stiff and straight as a soldier.

"Yes sir!" the squeakd in unision.

* * *

"I'm sure you've noticed that your group is much smaller than the others. Have you wondered why?" Silence. It was what she had expected. She glanced around at the half filled lecture room. Dia mentally chuckled. "We took all those that did exceptionally well on the tests and grouped them into this special class. The courses taken here will all be accelerated, many more advanced than normal courses. In this class, you will learn all that is needed to pass the graduation exams in four years, instead of the usual six. If start falling behind, come talk to me. I may be able to help you catch up, or in the event that one is so far behind, I can switch you to a normal class." She paused. 

"Though your knowledge will not be enough to pass the tests imeadietly, I encourage all students to take them at the end of the year as practice for your third or fourth year.  
Enough of this, it's time to get down to the nitty gritty. I will finish teaching all the basics you need to know today, so that you may go straight into training tommarow.  
I suggest you take notes. I will cover alot of material in a short amount of time, and you may find a need to reveiw later. I will occasionally stop for questions, but only then will you be permitted to speak." Dia walked over to her desk, pulling out a set of chalk.

"Firstly, Kido." She pulled out two peices of chalk; one white, one red. She carefully wrote two words on the black board, each in a different color.

"Hado." She said, pointing at the red word with a wooden stick.

"And Bakudo." pointing at the other word writtein in white chalk.

"These are the main two catagories of Kido. Hado are destructive spells, and Bakudo, binding spells, though they may also be used for destruction on occasion." Lyrae's emotionless eyes seemed focused only on the teacher and the blackboard, her hand moving rapidly, scrawling down everything the teacher said as well as copies of all diagrams in her notebook in a handwriting that seemed unusualy messy for this girl who never seemed to make a mistake, as accurate as she was distant, often blunt.

Dia moved on to discribe the different souls, plusses and hollows, moving through each group quickly. Once done, she began describing a shinigami's duties, and specifics on hell butterflies. She moved quickly through the many subjects, describing each in detail.

By the end of the session, Lyrae's notebook was more than half full. She would have to buy more soon, It seemed her small supply of ten notebooks would not be enough.

* * *

"She wants to talk to you." 

"Yamamoto-sama, is it nessesary?" The

"Yes. She has taken a great intrest in you, it seems."

"She said I resembled her son." Yamamoto nodded, His great shaggy beard moving up and down.

"She yearns for her lost boy. She likes to pretend sometimes that you are him, it eases her suffering."

"But it is just a dream. Wouldn't it be better for her if she never saw me at all?" Yamamoto stared into the fireplace, watching the embers fly about. He liked the fire. It soothed him.

"She's old, soon she will fade from her world and join ours. But she has many memories." Yamamoto turned to face the figure.

"I will send you to collect the souls she has gathered. They are many as she is a powerful miko." the person, hidden in the shadows, nodded.

"I will do as you command, Yamamoto-sama." He bowed respectfully before leaving through the bamboo doors. Yamamoto turned back to the fire, inhaling deeply. The insense burning in the fire gave off a sweet aroma.

* * *

Mercy is going to suck at Kido, poor thing x3

That's enough for today. I've got a good plot idea! -happy dance-

I was going to introduce it now, but I wanted everyone to be a little more settled before I introduced the idea.

and yes, Yamamoto-sama is here. He'll prolly be just about the only name you should recognize from the series. He's ANCEINT ..

Yoriyuchi (I know I spelled that wrong...-sigh) might come in somewhere as Dia's sister, (keyword MIGHT) but I haven't decided yet.

Tommarow, we get to meet Kuchiki Byakuya's ancestor. Byakuya takes alot after this guy -wink-  
-evil laughter- This guy is going to be one of my favorite characthers, I just know it x3  
I'll give you a hint to his name. his last name is Kuchiki!

But I'm sure yuo figured that out already xD


	4. Chapter 4

Firstly to all those people who read all the chapters BUT DID NOT REVEIW, and I know they are quite a few of you, as the number of page veiws on the second and third chapters are the same (an even number 12), and noone skips ahead and reads the last chapter before reading the proceeding,

YOU GET NO COOKIES. -gasp-

and to my wonderful Reveiwers, have a cookie! x3

and to the V-Wizard x3

-dumps a barrel of chocolate-chip cookies on you- enjoy

Vashino Wizard: I am most certainly going to take up your offer on Beta-ing in the near future. -forsees many typos and evil mistakes she will make, especially once school begins again- I decided not to get you to Beta this one though because I wanted to get one more chapter up and introduce Byakuya's awesome kick-butt ancsestor first.

I'm not going to have steady internet acess for a while, so though I'll try to post another update, I might not be able to get one in before I return to the states (early August) ):

but I won't leave you guys hanging. I'll plop up a songfic or a oneshot or a intermission with Kenpachi chasing Ichigo wanting a fight or Whitey-chan being teased for being short or something xD

Or you guys could go read my KH fanfic which everyone's been ignoring xD

* * *

**Chapter 4**

* * *

"C'mon C'mon C'mon!!!" said the head bobbing up and down rapidly outside Mercy's window. She moved closer for a better look. 

"I want you to meet my brother! Come on out Mercy!" He was practically vibrating with excitment.

"Okay!" Mercy said with a smile. She rushed out of the dorm meeting Suya at the window. Suya grabbed her hand, racing off towards the courtyard, dragging Mercy along.

"This is my brother, Aros. Aros, this is my friend, she's from Rukongai an' her name is Mercy!" He said cheerfully. The boy adjusted his glasses looking at both children.

"So this is your friend. Hello there, Mercy. I'm Suya's older brother, but I can see he's told you already." He crouched down, so he was at eyelevel with the children. His fluffy dark brown hair settled over his shoulders.

"Hello!" said Mercy, smiling.

"It's nice to meet you." Aros said. He pushed his spectacles further up the bridge of his nose. "Did you both have a good day?" they both nodded their heads rapidly.

"Good! Mine was decent as well, though I have recently come into more candy than I can currently eat." He held up a large bag which was filled with strawberry pocky and confetti .

"Yay!" they both exclaimed with glee, jumping up and down.

* * *

"Hey Seifer, you up for some gossip?" said Axel, poking his head into the lab, grinning devilishly. Seifer peeked up from his work, removing his saftey goggles and returning the grin. 

"Only if it's true." He said, looking up from his experiment.

"Isn't it always?" Seifer laughed. It was a common knowledge that 98 percent of what Axel said were all lies. It was usually quite obvious too, his stories so outrageous that noone ever believed them. He had recently got into trouble with the Kuchiki nobles over a small, ridiculous rumor he had passed around about the 11th division captain. Luckily for him, Kuchiki-taicho had found it amusing instead of offencive, and managed to keep the clan from slaughtering the misdeaming captain.  
Though it was a popular joke at lunchtimes, with much embaressment to Axel.

"You mock me." Axel said, faking sorrow. He casually entering the room, coming to stand over by Seifer. "News is a certain someone and another certain someone are gonna get married!" Seifer gave Axel a look of disbeileif.

"You came all the way here just to tell me that?" He replaced his goggles, returning to his work. "Surely you know they've been saying that for ages, Rascal, It's old news."

"Tsk tsk, you should refer to me as _'Niigata-saaan'," _He said whining at the lack of interest in his information. "This time it's true! Once that _someone_ gets a suboordinate they're both gonna get married." Seifer chuckled.

"It's been nearly half a century, and nobody's been picked. Sorry, but I don't see it happening." He was intent on his work with a small electric needle, carefully probing at a mysterious vial of liquid. Axel leaned in closer.

"Okay that's not the real news. One of my division was out on a simple mission to collect a few wandering pluses, when he came apon an empty shrine. There was no sign of trouble, just dead people everywhere. All the souls were still there or nearby, floating around as harmless spirits, except the miko's. It's all very suspisious," Seifer looked up in suprise. Axel's face lacked the usual devilish grin he had when passing on false information. He was telling the truth.

"It certainly doesn't seem like a Hollow's work. A Hollow would have left a big mess and eaten all the souls of the people it killed, even if it was just targeting the miko's high spirit energy. It doesn't sound like an act of a human's either, there'd have at least been traces of blood."

"That's all we know so far. I've already gone and told Yamamoto-sama, he seemed a little worried, but he said that there wasn't enough for them to work with. He said maybe it was a one time thing, but I don't know..." Seifer pondered this for a moment.

"Thanks for the info." He said, a serious look on his face. Axel nodded.

"I wanted to make sure you at least knew because both of our teams work around the same area. Whatever it was might still be around." Seifer removed his goggles, chewing on the end of it.

"I'll tell my guys to be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. I'm supposing this is all hush-hush, right?" Axel leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, and closed his eyes..

"Yeah, it's probably nothing. No need to get others worried."

* * *

"My dear boy Rai...he used to help me capture the lost souls, he did. Your name is much like his." A bittersweet smile filled her face, one of the sadness remembering joy. 

"He and Fiara would find them and bring them back here before any Hollows got to them. He was going to continue my work when I died, but alas, it was not fated to be." She lovingly gazed at a small woodblock, engraved upon it the likeness of a boy only about thirteen years of age.

"Fiara disapeared after his death, but she has recently returned here. She seems weary of her wandering life, looking to once more herd souls to the afterlife.

"I am old, and soon will follow the spirits I have sent on myself. I have no regets, though I fear for my aprentice; I feel I have not taught her enough." She said, looking at the young maiden asleep on a pallet nearby. She turned to face the still silent visitor.

"I wish to send Fiara with you. She is a skilled warrior, and has fought against Hollows many times. You may find her useful." The figure nodded.

"I will keep her for you." The elderly lady smiled.

"Thank you." She walked to an area in the back, returning with a creautre a glistening white, like snow, or the blue gaze of a cool silver sword reflrcting moonlight. Upon seeing him, it perked up, scaled wings fluttering, small puffs of smoke exiting her nostrils. He milky eyes swiveled abuot, talking in the newcomer.

"Fiara, this gentlemen over here will be your new caretaker. He follows a line of work quite similar to Rai's. I hope you will enjoy life with him." Fiara stood up on all fours, her tail whisking about. She carefully stood on the old miko's arm, sniffing the white haori. The stranger held up his left hand, allowing the firelizard to smell his metalic claw. She looked at it curiously, licking it a couple times, then arubtly glided over to his metal arm, climbing up the metal fixtures, stopping when it was perched upon his shoulders. She let out a squack, a mixture of a bird's and a dragons.

"Fiara, hmm?" he carresed the top of it's head with his normal hand.

* * *

The wind picked up, a smale gale blowing through the courtyard as a hell butterfly appeared, follwed by a small dark vortex. A tall dark male stepped out from this portal, his night black hair moving only slightly with the wind, the tips of his hair held together with _kenseikan_, costly silver clips, seven of them in all, glistening at his back. The four parts of his blood red scarf whiped about wildly behind him in the breeze. His white haori, longer at the back than the front, fluttered around much like a cape. Slowly the wind quieted as the portal closed. 

"Who's your friend?" tinkled a familar voice behind him. He turned to face her, the yellow wolf-like eye taht was not covered in dark red bandages looking pleased, his grin revealing sharp teeth saying the same.

"The Preistess's son used to own this firelizard. She wanted me to look after her. Her name is Fiara."

"She seems to be an ice based firelizard." mumured the girl. Her dark skinned hand, many golden bangles shifting downwards on her arm, an effect, reached up to pet the minature dragon. "She's beautiful."  
He leaned closer, whispering in the girl's ear,

"Not as beautiful as you."  
She chuckled, her laughter like windchimes, blushing at the compliment.

"Oh Ryu, you are quite the flirt." She said, brushing back some of his unruly hair behind his ear. He caressed her cheek, responding with a smile,

"Only for you, Dia."

* * *

when picturing Ryu, it is good to keep Vincent Valentine (from Final Fantasy 7) and especialy Byakuya-sama in mind.

Ryu's scarf is the same type as Byakuya's, though this one is bloodred, because, frankly, Ryu thought light blue was too girly for him.  
Because the scarf splits into four parts midway through, it is made of slightly less material, so it only cost as much as 8 large houses, instead of 10, like Byakuya's xD  
Don't ask me how he got his scarf. It's all very unofficial.  
Rumor is since Shihouin clan's current generation is all girl's, it was given to Shihouin Dia, who then passed it on to Ryu.

But I got that from Rascal-san, so who knows -wink-

Sorry for the bad grammer, this chapter could have been alot better xP  
I finished it in a rush this morning so I could get it uploaded before I left x


	5. Chapter 5

Heheheh...

Yoruichi's older sister and Byakuya's ancestor...-evil laughter-

Betcha didn't see that one coming x3

anyways...story-time...right...

Hey, know of a good place I can watch the bleach episodes in Japanese with English subtitles?

I've gotton through the Soul Society arc, and I don't quite like the arc with those weird three people, so starting either right after Ichigo gets back or right before the Bount arc episodes would be awesome!

friggin Youtube went and started blocking all the good animes and once school starts i will want an anime to obsess about again xD

* * *

**Chapter 5 The Plot Thickens!**

* * *

"These theories on the effects of Hydrocloric acid when mixed with certain kido moves are quite hard to grasp. And there are so many kido enhancments that involove dihydrogen monoxcide. Very intruiging, but I'm still unsure on a couple points..." 

"Dihydrogen monox...oh water. Duh. Why do you have to overcomplicate words?"

"Because complexity is FUN." She said, sounding quite sinister and insane, the look on her face resembling an arsonist who had been locked up in an asylym for extremly weird behavior. Rosalyn gave the girl a look that combined suprise, shock, a slight bit of fear, with a wonderence of weather or not the girl was sane. It ended up appearing something much like a chibi version of 'o.O'.

"Okay...you are slightly weird..." she muttered under her breath.

"If you aren't going to help, be quiet. I'm trying to study higher sciences here." Rosalyn rolled her eyes at her weird roomate.

"Why doncha just ask one of the senior students for help?" She said, sitting up on the high bunk, opposite from Lyrae.

"I did. Everyone gave me an answer even less helpful than your remarks, some of them simply responding 'Wha?', or running away in fear." He nose was still buried deep in her book. She had to keep adjusting her reading glasses. Whoever had designed them made them to big.

"Ask a graduate." she said, nonchalantly, jumping from her bunk, her bright red hair swinging to and fro. She jumped as Lyrae snapped her book shut, the loud noise startling all living creatures nearby.

"You think they would have time for stupid questions from a first year? I think not." She sighed, removing her glasses and placing them on the windowsill of the upper window. "This is hopeless. I'm going to sleep." She arubtly switched off the light, rolling over on her bed, and assumable fell asleep.

"Why is it always **me** that gets the weird ones..." Rosalyn muttered to herself, flicking the switch that controlled her desk lamp. She shuffled through the desk's drawers, finally pulling out some stationary to write home. "And I didn't see her go change into pajamas, is she sleeping in her uniform or something?" She glanced over to the other side of the room.

"Hey..." There was the red and white outfit, hanging neatly on Lyrae's chair. Rosalyn could have swore that less than ten minutes ago her black pajama's had been hanging exactly the same way in the exact same position. It was eerie...

Rosalyn quickly turned out her light, and jumped into bed.

She was going to sleep before her roomate creeped her out.

* * *

Day 2

* * *

"Today we will be practicing a basic bakudo. You will split up into two groups, and will alternate turns casting and attempting to break out of the spell. This spell is a very simple one, requiring only one word to be spoken, the name of the spell." She beckoned one of the assistant males over. 

"Stand there." he did as ordered. She stood some five feet away from him. She pointed a finger directly at him, uttering one word.

"_Sai_." Immeadietly the shinigami was forced down, limbs held tight in an unseen restraint. She grinned, turning now to face the students.

"Sai. Restrain. It is the first Bakudo. Now to escape this paralysis, concentrate spirit energy around your body, particulary around your limbs. Now slowly force off the invisible chains, pushing with your spirit energy." The shinigami on the ground stirred, struggling against his bounds. After a few minutes, he gasped with relief, escaping the kido.

"Every other person step forward and line up on this line. Face the other students." Suya went with the others and stood, toes lined up with the markings on the ground.

"The side that did not move will start first. You need not point as I did, but it sometimes helps with precision." Mercy grinned devilishly at Tatsuya, pointing one short little finger at him.

"Sai!" She said. But Suya wasn't knocked to the ground. He just stood there looking slightly confused.

"It just feels like there's something heavy pushing on me." He experimentally waved his arms around slowly, than gathered a little spirit energy and whisked away the kido.

"Waaah! I can't cast kido!" Mercy bailed.

"Now switch. The other will now say Sai." Suya looked slightly unsure as Mercy cringed.

"_Sai."_ Said Suya, holding his hand out, palm facing Mercy. Mercy yelped as she was dragged to the ground, suppressed by the force of the kido. She sqirmed for a moment.  
_okay...concentrate spirit energy between be and the restrain...and push!_

"Mmrf!" She pushed with the energy against the force. The bakudo wavered easily, fragments of energy bursting through the air, stinging nearby people.

"Ouch, Hey watch it!" complained Orange-Hair as shards of energy hit her in the face. "I said force the energy _slowly_. When your spirit energy has grown to the regular amount of a shinigami, breaking a restrain like that will cause an explosion."

"Oopsies..." Mercy said, turning red in embaressment. Suya giggled on the other side.

"Ha Ha! you got fussed at!" He said, teasing Mercy.

"Switch!"

"Sai Sai Sai Sai Sai Sai **SAI**!" said Mercy angrilly, waving her hand in Suya's direction.

"Eep!" He said as he plummetted to the ground. But the crushing sensation only lasted a moment, as Suya easily got up, without even needing to acess his spirit energy.

"Why can't I do anything right?" She moaned, bursting into tears.

* * *

"Damein-kun, You've been assigned to my squad tonight. The field agent phoned in that three or four Hollows are roaming the area. They are the normal weak ones, but he says he can't take them on all at once, so Taicho asked me to gather 4 other decent fighters and go assist him." Ichi-kun said, poking her head into the small room. Damein returned her look with a blank stare, his mouth currently stuffed full with Ramen. 

"Cangh thipth wfft phll fttre ghinnfr?" Kirara gave him a confused look.

"Say what..?" A large drop of sweat ran down Damein's head ((anime sweatdrop)). He quickly swallowed the entire contents of what he was eating.

"I said can it wait till after dinner?"

"There's _Hollows_. They'll eat souls. You're not allowed to procastinate." Damein groaned.

"But what about my Ramen? It's going to get cold and lonely here." Kirara started walking out of the room.

"Feed it to the cat. Fluffy-chan loves noodles." Damein sighed loudly.

"My poor precious Ramen, what a fate I leave you to!" Kirara's head popped back into the doorway.

"Hurry up, we haven't got all night!" Damein sighed again, shaking his head and dropping his chopsticks.

"I'm coming."

* * *

"A Fukutaicho, a 7th seat, 12th seat, 19th seat, and 20th seat. Kinda of high on the rankings for a few Hollows." Damein observed.

"Niigata-san's a bit worried over one of the last reports he had. He didn't want to accidentally send out someone not very skilled into battle with some evil opponent. He said that nothing would happen though." She scanned the area looking for someone. "Where is he?"

There was a rustle in the bushes nearby. Damein kept his hand on the hilt of his Zanpakuto, which had been thrust through the black sash at his waist, just in case. Slowly a black yukata-clad figure emerged from the disturbance. Damein removed his hand from his hilt as Kirara exhaled a slight sigh of releif. The night was a dark one, a new moon night, and the air was still, too still. Everyone was uneasy.

The figure waved at the group.

"Glad you guys came! I've been leadinf them away from any villages, but the four just split up in opposite directions." Kirrar nodded, her eyes calculating.

"You and You." She said, pointing at the 12th and 7th seat shinigami. "Go northeast and decapitate the Hollow. If it has a horn, try and sever it, Seifer taicho needs some for an experiment, but do not risk yourselfs if you cannot. You," she pointed now at the 19th seat. "Go with him. Take the 2 Hollows that went South. They should be smaller hollows, but do not let your guard down. Damein, you come with me, we'll take the one that went West." Damein nodded.

"Alright, everyone, you have your assingments, we will meet back here. Now go!" She said. The groups of two scurried off in the direction of the Hollows.

"Damein, the Hollow is a good couple miles from here, follow me and yell if you fall behind." And she was off sprinting through the trees. Damien pranced after her, though he had a bit more difficulty navigating the forest, and landed a few good smacks to the face from various branches.

"Gah! Why must we go through the trees?" He muttered under his breath, shovng away at sticks and leaves, "What do they think I am? A freaking...AH! Cat!" He jumped, startled by two glowing yellow eyes that appeared suddenly in front of him. He lost his balance falling to the ground. Kirara head the commotion, and came back to see what had happened.

"Augh! I HATE cats!" He yelled angrilly, hitting the hard floor. Kirara stiffled laughter, saying only,

"-giggle- C'mon now Damein! The Hollow's -snicker- getting away!" Damein glared up at her.

"No sympathy, hmm? Fine, I'm perfectly fine!" He mumbled, righting himself. They were both off again in hot pursuit.

After a few mre moments of uneventful chase, they came to a small clearing of felled trees. There, in the middle, was a class 'Huge' Hollow.

"Eww, it's an ugly one. Looks to be a weakling though. Let's surround it than attack." Damein nodded, swiftly racing to the otherside of the clearing, as quiet as mouse. He drew his sword, glancing at Kirara, waiting for the signal. She held up her hand, silently counting.

_1...2...3!_

Damein leaped from his leafy alcove, sword held high in it's sealed form, slashing at the monster's six legs, managing to sever two of them. The impure soul groaned, gooey green liquids spewing from it's wounds. The monster leaped at Damein, unaware that Kirara was sneaking up from behind. Damein's sword clashed against the Hollow's teeth as it reared for a bite, metal against bone.

"Yaa!" yelled Kirara, sword positioned above the weak spot in its neck. She stabbed deep, sword poking through the other side, oozing nasty smelling blood. The tip of the Zanpakuto was meager centimeters away from Damein's face.

"Hey, watch it, Strawberry, I like this face how it is, no scars needed!" but the hollow wasn't dead, the sword having barely missed the head. It stood up on its two hind legs, knocking Kirara off, throwing her against a tree, her blade still securly plunged into the creature's neck.

"Oof!" The tree trunk was hard. The Hollow closed in for attack.

"Hey big guy over here!" Yelled Damein, slashing hard at one of the Hollow's trio of tails. He ran up the middle remaining tail, stabbing the beast multiple times in the back. Kirara, slightly daxed, but msotly unhurt, shakily got to her feet. She held out her hand palm facing the Hollow, and began an incantation, speaking very quickly

"Number 54, Abolishing Flames, _haien_!" Damein quickly leaped off the Hollow to avoid being fried by the incinerating heat of the hado. The monster was surrounded in red flames, snarling in pain as it died from the terrible heat. The Zanpakuto purifed it as it vanished, leaving behind a hell butterfly. There was a soft metal clang as Kirara's katana dropped to the ground. Damein wiped his sword in the grass, trying to remove the blood from it's tip. Kirara got up, rubbing a bump on her head, as she went to retrieve her sword.

"Let's head back." She said groaning.

They returned to their original point of entry, though much slower this time as both were sore and weary from battle. There the others were waiting, once group recently returned, the dark haired girl holding her arm ackwardly, her yukata bloody as it had taken a hit form the enemy.

"I think it's poisoned," exclaimed her partner, explaining, "It was a medium sized hollow, but it kept spiting a purple liquid at us. It was very fast, and it managed a bite on her, but I was able to get it though the head." Kirara nodded. The wound was festering, it would be better for the girl if they hurried back.

"Alright. We'll go back now, I'll handle the report, and you, go see 4th division." She opened a portal with the help of a hell butterfly, waiting until all the others had exited.

"Not you, Damein, there was another mission Niigata Taicho had for me."

* * *

And you'll have to wait till the next update to find out what exactly that misson is. x3

thankies to V-Wiz (V-Wiz, I like that, I am going to call you that from now on xD you don't mind, right?) for his awesome reveiw once more, unlike all you evil readers who aren't reveiwing. -scowls-


End file.
